Chris Matthews

A new women's organization is setting out to get Chris Matthews fired from his job on MSNBC, calling his treatment of women on his cable TV show sexist. The nonpartisan group, called the New Agenda, held its first meeting this week and established as one of several goals getting Matthews yanked from his long-running show, "Hardball with Chris Matthews." Matthews' contract is up for renewal next year. His plans are unclear.

MSNBC host Chris Matthews put an end to speculation that he was considering a bid for the U.S. Senate, telling his producers Wednesday that he had decided not to jump into the 2010 race in his home state of Pennsylvania. In a routine production meeting before his daily show "Hardball," Matthews informed the staff that he was not going to pursue the seat, network spokesman Jeremy Gaines said. The cable host, who is negotiating a new contract at MSNBC, declined to comment.

SO MSNBC is mired in third place among all-news cable networks ["A New Look for Its News at MSNBC," by Scott Collins, June 12]. Gee, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that four of their five evening programs are hosted by conservatives (Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough, Chris Matthews, Rita Cosby). Competing with Fox News for right-wing viewers is a fool's errand. Since many people believe the media are liberal anyway, why doesn't MSNBC simply go ahead and try a mostly liberal lineup?

"Hardball" host Chris Matthews is expected to let his bosses know in the coming weeks whether he's going to pursue a Senate run in Pennsylvania or renew his contract at MSNBC. In recent weeks, network executives have spoken to Matthews about his interest in running for the U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, network sources said. The cable host is currently in talks with MSNBC about re-upping his deal as host of "Hardball" and the syndicated "The Chris Matthews Show."

It certainly can't be a bad thing for a man with a political talk show called "Hardball" to be nearly challenged to a duel by a U.S. senator. MSNBC has quickly moved to take advantage of Sen. Zell Miller's combative GOP convention interview with Chris Matthews, featuring it in advertisements. It was Matthews' second eye-popping exchange with a guest in a month. Matthews is hot right now, and not just under the collar.

As Californians ponder pulling the plug on Gov. Gray Davis, many national pundits have been cracking wise about the Golden State's latest crackup. But at least one prominent talk-show host, Chris Matthews, thinks that California's shaky politics make it the place to be this fall, and is temporarily moving his act west to investigate the tremors.